


You're my head (you're my heart)

by Talinor



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Character Study, Established Relationship, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, M/M, ambiguous ending, the Final Battle
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-29
Updated: 2016-09-29
Packaged: 2018-08-18 12:06:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8161535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Talinor/pseuds/Talinor
Summary: Falling for Lance was like a long drop into the ocean. The fall was weightless, light, air whistling in his ears. A rush of silence overwhelming him as the water caught him. Then, suddenly, he couldn't breathe.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Started out as a simple character study, and then it turned into this 
> 
> Enjoy!

This was it. The big battle the Paladins had trained for. The battle they'd prepared for, the battle they'd worked for, the battle each and every one of them had trained for. Six years of blood, sweat, and tears for a chance to finally finish what the previous Paladins had started.

How fitting that it ended up being on Earth.

Keith had never really thought of the planet as home. Home was wherever he was at the moment. At first, the endless stars felt more comfortable than the desert. He'd planned on staying in space at that time. Maybe become the first recorded galaxy explorer. He felt at home in the walls of spaceships, in the windows showing the endless expanse. It wasn't really surprising. He never was one to settle down.

Until his relationship with Lance started.

At first, it was a heated fling. The two had been arguing about something so unimportant Keith couldn't even remember it, and before they both knew it Lance's back was pressed against the wall with Keith's fingers sneaking underneath his shirt. It started as a new kind of competition. Then a way to blow off steam to distract themselves from the stress of defending the universe. No strings attached. Of course, it didn't stay that way. One night, Keith stayed in Lance's bed for the night. Then the time after that. And the one after that. So on and so forth.

Falling for Lance was like a long drop into the ocean. The fall was weightless, light, air whistling in his ears. A rush of silence overwhelming him as the water caught him. Then, suddenly, he couldn't breathe.

Passionate 'bonding sessions' became long talks about life at three in the morning. The heat was still there, but it wasn't a roaring flame that left them both exhausted and sweaty messes anymore. It was a comfortable warm glow, making them go slower and enjoy the sensations of the moment. After all, it could have been their last time. Why not enjoy it?

Six years took a toll. Keith had lost a leg two years before the battle for Earth in a battle with a crafty Druid. One year before the battle for Earth Lance took a rocket full on with lasting scars along his torso for a distracted Keith.

The night after Lance came out of the healing pod Keith spent hours mapping his body, worshipping it. Kissing at the new scars. Lance made a half-hearted joke about Keith having a thing for scars, but never really complained.

He must've known how scary it had been. How Keith felt, kneeling by his bleeding body and screaming for an evac. He must've heard Keith's choked threats of 'I swear to God, I'll kill you if you die on me, you selfless bastard'. He must've seen the tears threatening to fall.

Before Lance, Keith was a wanderer. From foster home to foster home, never really staying in one place for too long in his entire life. He never had the chance to get attached to someone.

Before Lance, Keith was fine with that. He never gave it much thought. It was just... natural.

After Lance, however, Keith caught himself fantasizing about a life on Earth. Just the two of them somewhere nice. Somewhere without murderous aliens constantly trying to kill them. Somewhere they could wake up and realize they don't have to worry about an alarm interrupting their private serenity.

But first they had to topple a ten thousand years old empire. No big deal. They had a lot of allies on their side. Six years' worth of emancipation boiled down to this day. No pressure.

The plan was simple- Keith, Hunk, and Lance would take down the giant generators in New York, Paris, and England. Shiro, Pidge, the Castle, and pretty much all their allies would distract the bulk of the Galra. Once they got all the generators, they'd form Voltron and save the universe.

It started out well enough. Traveling from New York to Paris took barely an hour. Both generators were relatively easy to take out. Blue took a lot of staggering hits in Paris, leaving her in critical condition. They decided to just let her recover before she was fully taken down, and Lance moved to Red.

England was when they reached a major problem. Where the generator should've been, a bright purple beam of light reaching out into the night sky was instead. Human soldiers were racing for the beam, both on foot and in armored cars. But the Galra were hellbent on protecting it. Their ships fired relentlessly on the soldiers, taking a couple out with just one burst.

"We need to get down there," Lance told him. "They're getting slaughtered!"

"I know," he said, turning his comm on. Red hovered a bit away from the beam. "Allura, do you know what this ray of light's for? Where's the generator?"

"I believe the beam's a teleporter," Allura told him after a moment. "It's how the Galra transport a giant portion of troops at once."

"Is it a two-way thing?" Hunk's voice piped up. "Cause that would be fantastic."

Allura hummed. "Yes, actually. Any Galra ship has enough power to sustain a small teleporter, but one on this scale? Only one Galra ship could possibly have enough quintessence to maintain it for more than a few seconds. The last generator is probably there."

The main ship.

Zarkon's ship.

It sounded too good to be true.

"But there is... one downside," Allura continued. "You would have to go on foot. The teleporters don't transport ships."

Well, there it was.

Keith turned back to look at Lance. There was a fire in those blue eyes, a steely determination. In a few seconds, they came to an easy agreement. Both nodded.

"We're headed down," Lance said into the comm. "Hunk, cover us."

"Will do," was Hunk's reply.

Red touched down on the barren ground. Considering the dead grass, this had probably been a park. A place kids played without a care in the world. Until the Galra happened.

He was more than ready to take them down.

Keith moved out of the pilot's chair, moving to Lance's side. Fingers familiarly drifted together, meeting halfway in a small comforting embrace. Both could hear the unspoken words in that one small gesture.

_This is it._

The two walked side by side.

_One last time._

Red opened her maw to let them out onto the hectic battlefield.

_We've got this._

The two exchanged a look. Keith felt Lance squeeze his hand reassuringly.

_I love you._

The two's hands separated, but both ran. Both ran like the devil was nipping at their heels. Both ran like they were racing in some stupid competition. Keith ran like everything he had to lose was right beside him, dodging soldiers on the way to the beam. When he looked over at Lance, he just shot him that confident grin.

Which was the last thing he saw before the sound of crushed metal really close by struck through the chaos, and an overturned vehicle blocked Keith's view. His chest tightened up in that familiar kind of fear. The mainly Lance-related fear he'd had many times.

He still wasn't used to it.

He raced to the other side, hoping to see that Lance was fine, just dazed for a moment. But a more realistic part of him expected what he saw.

A piece of jagged metal was embedded in Lance's left side, and Keith could see the stain through the dark gray of Lance's armor. Keith was at his side immediately, trying to get a better look at the wound.

Lance waved him off. "Baby," he said weakly. "I'm fine, just help me up." His hands covered most of it, but from what Keith could see, it was bad. Really bad. He seriously doubted Lance could handle standing on his own, let alone running with or without assistance.

In a split second, Keith made a decision.

He turned his comm on. "Hunk," he said. "I need you to touch down. Do you see where we are?"

"Yeah," Hunk said after a moment. "I'll be there in a sec."

"Keith," Lance's hands reached for his. His voice was pleading, truly desperate. "Don't. I promise, I'm fine, just-"

"You're not fine," Keith told him, eyes shifting to the yellow lion as it touched down a foot or so away. Despite Lance's protests, he hoisted him onto his feet. One arm slung over Keith's shoulders, the two headed to the lion's open robotic mouth. Hunk was waiting for them there. "Here," Keith said to Hunk, handing Lance over to him. "Take him back to the Castle. I've got this."

 _"Tesoro,"_ Lance said, looking at him with pleading eyes. "Don't leave me behind. Please-"

"For once, love, please don't argue with me." Keith said, stepping towards him onto the catwalk. His hand cupped the side of Lance's face, and his heart broke at the way Lance automatically leaned into the touch. Lance's lip quivered. "Listen to me," Vulnerable blue eyes focused on him. "When all this is over, no matter what happens, build a home on Earth." That's all he wanted, really- Lance to be alive and happy. With or without him.

Lance let out a breathy laugh, eyes shining on the brink of tears. "I already have a home on Earth, _mi corazón."_ His hand went to Keith's. A streak fell down his cheek. "I'm here with you."

For a long moment, they just looked at each other. For a moment they forgot the chaos around them. Both leaned forward and met halfway. It wasn't their best kiss, not even close, but it felt like the absolute best kiss in the history of ever. It said the words racing through their minds.

_I can make it. (Respectfully, no you can't.)_

_Just give me a chance. (I want to. But I can't.)_

_Don't go without me. (I don't want to.)_

_I love you so much._

And then the moment was over. They separated. Keith moved his hand away, stepping back to the ground. Lance shot him a final helpless look as his hand weakly reached out for him. "Come back to me." The words were so quiet he barely heard them.

Keith watched with a heavy heart as Hunk led Lance into his lion. He took the time to watch the lion fly off, waiting until he could barely see it anymore before focusing on his task. It was time to finish this once and for all.

Alone, Keith raced for the teleporter.

**Author's Note:**

> Does Keith make it to the teleporter? Does Lance survive his wounds?? That's up to you cause I am really goddamn tired rn  
> Comments are always appreciated   
> come yell at me on tumblr: squishy--squish


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